For generations the pursuit of American folklore has often been taken up, at any given time, by limited numbers of ardent and infinitely talented collectors who scoured the land for storytellers and papers revealing the thoughts, words and collective wisdom left to us by our forbearers. Needless to say, this was a lengthy process, but the fruits of such labors have gifted generations of Americans with an intangible heritage to call their own.
While contributions of late have made considerable strides in gathering American folklore, technological innovations, which have so greatly advanced other fields, have not been as extensively applied to the same. Whereas just a few decades ago the review of hundreds of accounts by human eyes would have taken years an electronic search can now perform this monumental task in seconds. Accordingly, while a priceless amount of our folklore has undoubtedly came and went without the hope of becoming part of permanent memory, there is much, perhaps infinitely, more still lying in wait in archives the world over. It is to their discovery, safekeeping and reflection this Museum of American Folklore is dedicated.
Established November 21, 2020
Lenwood S. Sharpe, Director
Jordan Kojima, Curator
PROJECTS FOLKLORE SUMMARIES
- AMERICAN SUPERSTITIONS
- BR’ER RABBIT: THE EARLY STORIES
- LEGEND OF COAL CREEK
- JOHN HENRY: THOUGHTS & FOLKLORE
- DROWNED BODIES FOUND BY BREAD
- CHARACTER OF THE FRONTIER DESPERADO
- MOSQUITO PHILOSOPHY
- WITCHCRAFT AT ROCHESTER
- MOLLY PITCHER
- TEXAS MAGNETIC STORY?
- SIC TRANSIT: THE NERDS’ FOLKHERO
- MOON LORE
- WINTER OF THE “DEEP SNOW” OF ILLINOIS
- THE DARK DAY
- VIRGINIA DARE
- MARYLAND SUPERSTITIONS
- THE HODAG
- BIG JOHN MORIARTY
- LONG ISLAND DRACULA
* For the purposes of this project "folk hero" will be spelled as "folkhero."